Scribing machine



March 10, 1953 F. A. SCHUNK ET AL 2,530,630

SCRIBING MACHINE Filed June 17, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS ii'edem'ck Alberzflchgmfi Marco Mariana ATTORNEYS March 10, 1953 F. A. SCHUNK ET AL 2,630,630

SCRIBING MACHINE Filed June 17, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I de M22 E a n 106 fie j nian? 105 SS BY *5 ATTORNEYS March 10, 1953 F.- A. SC-ZHUNK ET AL 2,630,630

SCRI BING MACHINE Filed June 17, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 57 78 2 1 [13.5. 58 5455 a! I 88 4! 55 5a A WWO] 90mm lgolo l o] o o J08 JIIHIHHMIH Ill IIHHIIHI I 'lln Ill M ATTORNEYS 1 the plate.

Patented Mar. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,630,639. SCRIBING MACHINE Frederick Albert Schunk,'Lincoln Park, N. J and Marco Mariani, Blauvelt, N. Y.,. assignors to Semon Bache & Company, New York, N. Y., a.

corporation of New York Application June 17, 1946, Serial No. 677,376

14 Claims.

, The present invention relates to automatic machinfery for the quantity excising of shapes such as discs, etc., from plate material.

Among the objects of ourinvention is to provide an automatic machine which admits of ready adjustment or setting for the simultaneous fabrication of a plurality of identical blanks of frangiblematerialof any selected size andshape within the range of the machine, said machine being compact and functioning with a minimum number of operating parts, none of which is delicate or apt to become out of order, and the cost of upkeeprof which is low.

,A machine of the sort to which the invention relates essentiallyincludes a plurality of scribers which areadapted, when brought to bear upon a plate of frangible material, each to inscribe a circle or other closedcurve, whereupon the portionwithin the scribing may readily be removed from the plate.

, A. feature of the invention is the mounting of the scribers on the lower ends of driving spindles therefor and the rotation through a transmission operated from a camshaft of said spindles, each rotated through one complete turn to effect acomplete closed curve inscription upon Another feature is the feed mechanism by which the'plate of frangible material is accurately advanced ina step by step movement preparatory to each scribing operation and in steps by which a second set of scribers forms the inscription in the spaces between those effected by the first set. i

Another feature is the provision of a lifting mechanism also controlled from the cam shaft by appropriate cams for simultaneously raising the spindles to maintain the scribing tools above the plane of the stock to be inscribed during the feeding operations.

Another feature is the maintenance of a constant pressure of the scribers upon the plate to be inscribed, such pressure to be adjustable, and

this is accomplished preferably by correspondingly weighting thescribing spindle.

By way of illustration and not limitation, the machine will be considered as it is employed to scribe discs on plates of glass.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shownone of various. possible embodiments of ,theseveral features of the invention as incorporated in an automatic machine for scribing discs,

, Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine.

"Fig, 2 is aside elevation of themachine;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the scribing device assembly taken along the line 3 30f Flg.1, H N i Fig. 4 is a cross-sectionalview on a larger scale of one ofthe scribing devices taken along the line 44 of Fig. 3, r

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the tool holder taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the device taken along linet- -B of Fig. 2, and 1 Fig.7 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the machine.

The various feeding and scribing operations are performed by mechanisms for the purpose, all

mounted on the bed ortable surface M of the machine which is supported by a conventional frame [5. Illustratively these mechanisms may include a plate feed mechanism, a scribingdevice assembly including a plurality of scribers each containing a cuttingor scratching tool, a drive mechanism therefor and mechanism for lowering the same to and raising it from scribing position. l i i While the various cams, gears and sprocket wheels for operating the constituent elements of the machine may be arranged in timed relation in any of a multiplicity of possible ways, to be driven by a common motor M preferably under the bed of the machine; a particularly desirable arrangement is shown in Figs. 2 and 6. r

Each of the elements of the machine willnow be described in detail.

endless fabric conveyor belt I I, the upper or feed Feed mechanism The feed mechanism comprises a conventional run of which travels in a horizontal plane around rollers 12 and 13. The upper surface of the conveyor belt is supportedby thebed or table suroperated by a connecting rod or pitrnan 2 1 pivoted at its lower end to a slideblock 2 8 in a corresponding track 29 in said lever. Slide bloclg 28 is adjustedby means of a threaded rod 30 along r leveri 2t, theposition: of adjustment ofs'aid slide spindle 8|.

block determining the throw of lever 25 and consequently the distance the conveyor belt will travel at each stroke of the connecting rod 21.

Connecting rod 21 is pivoted at its upper end to the upper end of lever 3|. The lower end of lever 3| is pivotally secured to the frame [5 of the machine as at 32. At slightly above the midpoint of lever 3|, a cam roller 33 is rotatably mounted so that it is in constant contact with elliptical cam 34 carried by cam shaft 35 which extends transversely of the machine. Sprocket chain 36 secured at one end to the upper end of lever 3| as at 31, has at its other extremity a counterweight 38 and rests on sprocket wheel'33 which is rotatably mounted to the frame of the machine as at 40. counterweight 38 causes a constant lateral tension to be exerted on lever 3 I, thereby holding cam roller 33 in constant contact with elliptical cam 34.

An adjustable gauge stop I6 is mounted on a sliding block I! in track l8 along the side of the bed I 4. Lateral adjustment of said stop is obtained by means of threaded rod 9. Said rod is screwed through a horizontal hole in block I! engaging the threads therein; and has one end pivotally secured to the extremity of track l8. Rotation of rod l9, thereby causes block I! to move forward or backward. Transverse adjustment of said stop is obtained by loosening adjustment bolts 2|, said bolts holding bifurcated bar 20 which straddle said blots, to block H. The gauge stop is adjusted so that when the rear edge of a plate 22 is aligned with said stop, the leading portion 4 of said plate can be moved by the intermittent feed mechanism to the proper position below the first row of scribing devices to allow a blank of the desired size and shape to be inscribed.

scribing device assembly It will, of course, be understood that while two scribing device assemblies are shown, each assembly containing three scribing devices, the invention could be embodied in a machine having one or more scribing device assemblies, each containing one or more scribing devices.

'Each scribing device assembly consists of a transverse shaft '14 rotatably mounted in bearings 15 on the upper end of the corresponding pair of transversely aligned supports 65. Transverse shaft 14 is connected by a miter gear pair composed of beveled gears 19 and 80 to vertical spindle 8| rotatably supported in bearings 82 and 83 and carried by frame 84. Frame 84 is secured to cross bars 85 by means of set screws 86 which fit into guideways 81 between said cross bars, as

shown in Figs. 3 and 4. By loosening set screws 86, the position of frames 84 may be transversely adjusted along the guideways.

The spindle 8| is vertically reciprocable in its bearings in order to lower the scribing tool or die I05 into position of engagement with the plate 22 and to raise said scribing tool after the plate has been inscribed. Beveled gear 80 rests on top of frame 84, as at 88, and surrounds the upper end of spindle 8| to which it is keyed by a key pin 89 fitting into a longer keyway 89 so that the spindle may move vertically a short distance through beveled gear 80.

Fulcrumed at one end to frame 84 as at 90 is a yoke 9| havingan extended arm 92. Said yoke is pivotally affixed as at 93 to a follower block 94 which encompasses but is not affixed to the is a vertical rod 95 upon which any desired num- At the end of the extended arm 92 'compassing but not affixed to spindle BI and resting on the upper edges of a pair of parallel cross bars H1 straddling the spindle.

Removably afiixed to the lower end of spindle 8| by set screw |8| is scribing tool holder I02. Horizontally set in said holder ||l2 is rod I03 containing at one end thereof a chuck I04 into which is inserted a scribing tool or die I05. The position of the chuck end of rod I03 with respect to holder I82 may be varied by means of set screw I06, said adjustment varying the radius of the closed curve to be inscribed.

Consecutive rows of scribing devices are arranged, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the scribing devices in one row are out of registry with those in the adjacent row. This allows the maximum area of a sheet to be inscribed in the minimum number of operations.

scriber drive mechanism The scriber drive mechanism consists of a large interrupted gear I01 mounted on cam shaft 35. This gear intermittently drives pinion I08 mounted on shaft I89 journalled in bearings H0 at opposite sides of the frame of the machine. Sprocket wheel 11 is mounted on the rear end of shaft I83 and is connected to scriber drive sprocket wheels 16 mounted on transverse shafts 14 by means of sprocket chain 18, said chain 18 riding on sprocket wheel I I mounted on arm I I2 affixed to the rear frame of the machine by bracket H3. The function of sprocket wheel III is to keep sprocket chain 18 taut thereby ensuring simultaneous rotation of the spindles. The tension on sprocket chain 18 may be adjusted by loosening bolt I8 and varying the position of arm I I2.

Lifting mechanism The function of the lifting mechanism is to raise the spindles carrying the scribing tools from the surface of the material being worked, in order to allow a fresh surface to be introduced to said scribing tools. While the tools may be lifted in any of a multiplicity of possible ways, a particularly desirable arrangement is shown in Fig. 2.

The lifting mechanism for the scribing devices preferably includes, in the embodiment shown, four identical cams 4|, two of which are mounted on the ends of cam shaft 35 and the other two near the ends of shaft 42 journalled in bearings 43 adjacent to the respective cams and on opposite sides of the frame.

Cam shaft 35 carries sprocket wheel 44 which is drivingly connected to sprocket wheel 45 on cam shaft 42 by means of sprocket chain 45. Sprocket chain 46 rides on sprocket wheel 41, which is mounted on arm 43 affixed to the frame of the machine by meansof bracket 49. The function of sprocket Wheel 31 is to keep sprocket chain 48 taut, thereby ensuring that cams 4| will turn simultaneously.

Cam shaft 35 carries sprocket wheel 50 which is drivingly connected by means of sprocket chain 5| to sprocket wheel 52 on the reduction gear housing 53, driven by motor M, as best shown in Fig. 6.

Four identical levers 54 are each pivotally mounted at theirmidpoints' to the frame of the machineas at 55, in such a manner that one'end ill 2,630Q630 of each lever is 'in contact with a lifting cam 4| as at 56, and the other end of each of said levers is pivotally connected as at 51 to the lower end of connecting rod 53 across the upper ends of each pair of which are connected by pivots 6| elevator bars 59 and tBrespectively at opposite sides of the machine. Rotation of cams 4| will therefore cause elevator bars 59 and 69 simulta- 'neouslyto reciprocate vertically.

Connecting rods 58are maintained in a vertical position in close juxtaposition to the frame of the machine by means of horizontal guide arms 62, each of which has one end affixed to the frame dling the associated connecting rod 53 as at 64, but not affixed thereto. A vertical guide bar 66 is affixed to each of the supports or standards 65 passing through openings 67 in supports 65 and straddling bars 69;

At the lower end of each of the four lifting bars 69 is a tap-pet H adjustable in length, those atone side of the machine resting upon elevator bar 59 and those at the other upon elevator bar Affixed to either side of lifting bar 69 near the lower end thereof, are brackets '52, the ledge of each of said brackets containing adjustable tappets 13 which come in contact with the ledge of angle bar 68 on the outside base of support 65.

The function of said tappets is to ensure that the scribing tools, when they are in a lowered position, willalways be out of contact with the conveyor belt in the event that there is no plate ini tervening between the scribing tool and the conveyor belt.

Operation The operation of the specific machine shown may be briefly summarized as follows: Depending upon the size of the disc desired, rods W3 are adjusted so that a disc or other curve of the desired size will be inscribed. By varying the adjustment of said rods, discs of different size may be simultaneously inscribed by themachine. If a larger disc is desired than can be secured by the maximum available extension of rod I03, said 1 extension being limited by the proximity of the adjacent scribing tools, frames 84 may be moved j transversely by loosening set screws 8-6 and sliding said frames in the guideways 81. Gauge stop it is so adjusted that when a plate 22 is placed in position on the conveyor belt II, the forward motion of said conveyor belt will place the leading portion I Id of the plate in the proper position with respect to the scribin tools so that the first row will be inscribed as close to the leading edge of the plate as possible.

Depending upon the thickness and type of material to be scribed, in the embodiment shown,

Q a greater or lesser number of rings 86 is placed over rod 95 so as to cause a constant down- Ward pressure of required magnitude to be exerted by the scribing tools when they are in contact with-said material. The fabric conveyor belt forms a yielding base for the plate, thereby permitting efficient scribing operations to be performed. One such initial adjustments are made,

i the machine is ready for automatic scribing operation. it

= a The motor M is started and a frangible plate is" reduction gears 53 rotates sprocketywheel .52

of the-machine as at 63 and'the other end stradtionof said platesis beneath thefirst scribing tools. 7 i

tinned by the gaugestop .16.. Motor M through which through chain 5| andsprocket wheel50 drives camshaft35. As lever 3| is held in contact with elliptical cam 34 carried by said cam shaft by means of the lateral pull exerted. by counterweight 38. rotation of cam shaft 35 causes lever 3| to move forward and backward, imparting this same motion to lever'26 by means of connecting rod 2i. Movement of lever 26 inacounter-clockwise direction causes pawl at the top of said lever 26 to engage ratchetwheel 23 and turn roller I2 a short distance in a counterclockwise direction, thereby moving the conveyor belt and the plate thereon so that the leading por- *rowwf The distance the conveyor belt should travel at each throw of lever 26-is determined bythesize of thediscs to be inscribed and is regulatedby means of adjustable block 28 onlever 26;.-

Cam shaft 42 is rotated from cam shaft '35, thereby causing lifting cams 4| on the latter, to rotate with those on the former. Each cam 4| engages the associated lifting levers M'WhiCh in turn causes connecting rods 58 to be raised, therebyraising elevator bars 59 and Bilsimultaneously. The two pairs of lifting bars .69 resting at their tappet ends 1|. on the respective elevator bars 59 and 60 cause the parallelpairs of cross bars Hi which are connected to said lifting bars 59 to be raised, and to engage and raise spindles 8| by their engagement with washers 99, thereby lifting all the. scribing tools I05 fromthework.

Lifting cams 4| are so set that when the conveyor belt is advanced by lever 26, the lifting cams will have raised the scribing devices. (Cam shaft 35 also turns the interrupted gear |0| thereon, which drives pinion Hi8 and with it shaft I09 and sprocket wheel H. Interrupted gear l lll is so placed that it does not mesh with pinion Hi8 until the scribing tools are in a loweredposition in contact with the plate on the halted conveyor belt. When the pinion does rotate, it

turns shaft Hi9 and with it sprocket wheel 11 which through chain 18 drives sprocket wheels 16 to turn transverse shafts 14 which, by means of a miter gear pair 19 and 80, effects rotation of spindles 8| and also holder [02 connected thereto. When 'spindle'fiihas rotated exactly 360?, interrupted gear I01 nolong'er meshes with pinion I08 and therefore pinion I08 and scriber drive sprocket wheel 11 are no longer turning. Thus there is assured the completion of the 'circular or other closed curve inscription without gap or overlap between the ends of the inscribed curve, a feature essential to satisfactory results. At this time lifting cams 4| are in position and raise the scribing tools from the plate by transmission means from said cams to lifting bars 69 which engage and raise spindles 8| and the scribers attached thereto, whereupon the foregoing cycle of operations is repeated.

Forward movement of the conveyor belt carries the plate thereon from the scribing position beneath the first row of scribing'devices to the scribing position beneath the second row of scribing devices which are out of registrywith the former, so that closed curves can be inscribed in the spaces between the already inscribed porlOIlS. r i Whenthe frangible plate is completely-inl scribed, it then receives straight-line scribings between the inscribed circles, to facilitstebinch- ;ing orbreaking-out 'as is customary, whereupon the -discs are thenfreed by knocking away the protruding margins which break away clear at ment of the tool carrying spindle in manner that is thoroughly conventional so that description thereof is unnecessary.

-As-many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made Without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matters contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for scribing a plurality of discs simultaneously on a plate or frangible material, said machine comprising a feed therefor, means for intermittently advancing said feed in steps corresponding to the diameter of the discs to be inscribed, a plurality of adjacent scribing device assemblies, each extending transversely of said feed, each of said assemblies including a plurality of scribing devices, the scribing devices in each assembly being out of registry with the scribing devices of the adjacent assembly, each scribing device including a scribing tool normally spaced from said plate, means for lowering said plurality of scribing tools into contact with said plate, means for moving said plurality of scribing tools in a closed path to inscribe discs on said plate after each stepping movement of said feed, means for raising said plurality of scribing tools from said plate after said discs have been inscribed, and timed cam and gear controls driven by a common motor for operating said aforementioned means in sequence.

2. An automatic machine for scribing a plurality of discs simultaneously on a plate of frangible material, said machine comprising a feed therefor including a conveyor belt of yielding material, means for intermittently advancing said conveyor belt longitudinally of said machine in steps corresponding to the diameter of the discs to be inscribed, a plurality of adjacent scribing device assemblies, each extending transversely of --said conveyor belt, each assembly including a .plu-

.rality' of scribing devices, the scribing devices in each-of said assemblies being out of registry with the scribing devices in an adjacent assembly, each "scribing device including a scribing tool normally spaced from said plate, means for varying the diameter of said discs, means for regulating the pressure of said scribing tools on said frangible plate, means for lowering said plurality of scribing tools into contact with said plate, means for moving said plurality of scribing tools through an arc of 360 degrees to inscribe a closed curve on said disc, and means for lifting said scribing tools from said plate after said closed curve has been inscribed.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which the means for advancing said intermittent feed mechanism comprises rollers on which said conveyor belt is'mounted, a ratchet wheel afiixed to one of .said rollers and rotating therewith, a lever pivotally mounted to said-roller, said lever 8 having a pawl at one end thereof to engage said ratchet Wheel, an adjustable slide block in said lever, a pitman connected at one end to said slide block, a lever pivotally attached to the other end of said pitman and pivotally attached to the frame of the machine, a cam roller mounted on said last named lever, an elliptical cam in contact with said cam roller, a counterweight connected to said last named lever so as to exert constant lateral pull thereagainst thereby retaining said cam roller against said elliptical cam, and means to rotate said elliptical cam.

l. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which the scribing tool consists of a scratching die afiixed to the end of a spindle vertically mounted in bearings in a supporting frame and rotatable therein. 7

5. The combination set forth in claim '2 in which the means to move said scribing tools through an arc of 360-degrees comprises a plurality of rotatably mounted transverse shafts operatively connected respectively to said tools in each of said assemblies, each of said shafts having a sprocket Wheel mounted on the rear end thereof, a sprocket chain connecting said sprocket wheels and means for driving said sprocket chain.

6. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which the means for varying the diameter of the discs includes a scribing tool holder having a horizontally extendable arm supporting said scribing tool, said arm being adjustable in length, the position of the scribing device carrying said scribing tool being transversely adjustable with respect to said conveyor belt.

7. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which the means for raising and lowering said plurality of scribing tool devices includes pairs .of vertically reciprocating cross bars, each of said pairs of cross bars being in contact with the plurality of scribing tool devices contained in each of said scribing tool assemblies thereby raising and lowering said scribing tool devices.

8. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which the means for moving said plurality of scribing tools simultaneously through an arc of 360 degrees includes a plurality of transverse shafts associated respectively with each of said scribing device assemblies and mounted on bearings placed on supports straddling said conveyor belt, a vertical spindle slidably mounted .in each :of said scribing devices, a bevel gear at the upper end of each of said spindles keyed thereto and slidably mounted thereon, a plurality of complementary bevel gears affixed on said transverse shaft, meshed respectively with the bevel gears on said spindle, said scribing tool being carried by the lower end of each of said spindles, and means intermittently to rotate said transverse shafts through one complete revolution.

9. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which each of said scribing devices has a vertical spindle slidably mounted therein carrying said scribing tool at its lower end and .the means for regulating the pressure of each of said scribing tools on said frangible plate includes a yoke pivotally'affixed atone end to each of said scribing devices respectively, said yoke having near its mid-point a follower block freely encompassing said spindle, means rigid with said spindle against which said follower block is positioned to exert downward pressure thereagainst, said yoke having a substantially horizontal extending arm, and means to vary the pressure onsaid arm so as to exert any desired constant presure on said plate.

'10. A machine for scribing blanks on plates of frangible material, said machine comprising a frame having a bed, one or more scribing device assemblies rising from said bed, each of said assemblies including a scribing device having an upright slidably mounted spindle, a scribing tool afiixed at the lower end of each of said spindles laterally spaced from the axes thereof and normally spaced from said plate, means to rotate said spindles to move said scribing tools through an arc of 360 degrees to describe the peripheries of the blanks, cross bars operatively connected to the spindles in each of said assemblies respectively, a cam shaft and a transmission from said cam shaft operatively connected to said cross bars to lift the latter and the spindles when said tools have completed their 360 degrees movement, thereby moving said tools from said plate to permit introduction of a fresh area to be inscribed.

11. The combination set forth in claim 10 in which the transmission for lifting said cross bars comprises vertical lifting bars connected to said cross bars, a tappet at the lower end of each of said lifting bars, horizontal elevator bar means supporting said lifting bars at the tappet ends thereof, lever means driven by the cam shaft for lifting said elevator bars, said tappets being adjustable in length, thereby enabling the height to which the cross bars can be raised to be varied so that frangible plates of diverse thickness may be placed beneath said scribing tools.

12. The combination set forth in claim 10, in which each scribing device assembly is carried by a pair of transversely aligned supports mounted on the bed of said machine, the outside base of each of said supports having a ledge and in which the cross bars are lifted by vertical lifting bars connected to said cross bars, said lifting bars each having a bracket affixed to either side thereof near the lower end of said lifting bar, the ledge of each bracket containin tappets which come in contact with the ledge on the outside base of said supports, said tappets being adjustable in length and so regulated that the scribing tools when they are in a lowered position, will not contact the conveyor belt.

13. The combination set forth in claim 10 in which the means to rotate said upright spindles comprises a plurality of rotatably mounted transverse shafts, said shafts being drivingly connected to the spindles in the respective assemblies, a sprocket wheel connected to the rear end of each of said shafts, a sprocket chain connecting said plurality of sprocket wheels, a sprocket wheel driving said sprocket chain, said sprocket wheel being mounted on the rear of a shaft journalled in bearings under the bed of the machine, a pinion carried by said shafts, an interrupted gear driving said pinion, said interrupted gear being mounted on a cam shaft journalled in bearings under the bed of the machine.

14. The combination set forth in claim 10 in which the transmission for lifting said cross bars comprises lifting bars ccnnected to said cross bars, horizontal elevator bar means supporting said lifting bars, and lever means driven by a common cam shaft for lifting said elevator bars.

FREDERICK ALBERT SCHUNK. MARCO MARIANI.

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